The Fire Hunt
by VanG Ziggy ZA
Summary: Aang only thought he had his hands full, now he has a band of five, Fire Nation Bounty Hunter sisters coming after him too.
1. Chapter 1

Flaming Hunt

_**Ziggy's Corner: My third Avatar story, hope it's as popular as the other two. Unlike the other two, I know how long this story will take, its going to be five chapters. If people like my characters and want to see more of them, I'll post more stories with them.**_

Her eyes were large and bright purple. She began pacing back and forth as she watched the road, her Fire Nation uniform glowing in the sun's light, turning it bright red. Her hair was bright pink, with strains of gray through it, even though she was only nineteen. Her heart raced and she tapped a foot, a bizarre smile spreading across her face.

"You're sure that the Avatar and his friends will be coming this way, Vinata," she asked her younger sister.

"It's been what all the towns and villages of this island have been saying for the last couple of weeks," Vinata said, pushing her glasses up to her nose. She was dressed just as her sister, but she was smaller, and with a slight scar on her cheek. Her face was round and plump, but she was thin, just like her older sister was. She frowned and looked at her sibling. "Ryasa, how much do you think we'll make from Fire Lord?"

Ryasa was the second oldest of five sisters, all who worked on the ship, _The Dowlenger_, and was their captain. The girls' parents were killed in the middle of a battle between the Earth Nation and the Fire Nation, leaving them all orphaned ten years ago, and of the five, Ryasa had never forgiven those who were responsible in the fight. Her smile spread, sending shivers up her younger sibling's back.

"What makes you think we'll give him to the Fire Lord?" she asked, her eyes twinkling. Her skin stretched tight against her cheeks, and jaw, giving her a very skeletonal appearance.

"Sister," the fifteen year old screeched. "We're Fire Nation!"

In one solid flash of movement, Ryasa was right in front of her face. "Should that mean anything to me?" her grin never left her face, it wasn't that her face was frozen like that; it was one of her quirks. None of the girls had ever seen Ryasa without her smile. "We may _come_ from that nation, but we owe allegiance to only each other, and no other."

"We're bounty hunters," the bespectacled girl said, quoting their mantra. "We follow the money and the orders of the captain, nothing else."

Ryasa nodded her head and blinked. "Good girl," she said, her eyes turning soft. She stroked her sister's cheek and cocked her head. "Go to the ship, and get the other girls. If your information is correct, it shouldn't be too much longer before they show up."

Vinata nodded and bowed to her sister. Her arms flung around in the air, as if she was backstroking in the water, and a blast of fire appeared beneath her feet. "Be careful sister," she said. And just like that she was off, heading for the harbor.

Fifteen minutes later all five were camped besides the path, hiding in the trees, all except for Ryasa, who stood there, her chin to her chest, her gothic smile either staying the same, or growing. A few minutes later her hands reached up for her head and she tied her hair into a ponytail. It was one of the signs that she used to let the girls know to be ready at any second. She giggled a high pitched squeak, and ran her fingers over her arms, the anticipation driving her wild.

"She honestly said that?" Angirasa asked, turning to Vinata. Her blue eyes grew as her younger sister nodded. "Betraying Fire Lord Ozai, she's out of her mind." The eighteen year old shook her head. She had long wintry white hair, was very muscular, and barefoot. Of the all the girls, it was she who bore no weapon, she preferred to fight with her gloved fists, and strong feet.

Kailasa, the oldest at twenty-two looked at her sister's. She had been the first captain of the group, until Ryasa surpassed her in prowess and cunning. Kailasa was the smartest of the girls, and knew how to manage money, so none of them would ever starve, and it was she who transformed their parent's barge into the massive bounty hunter ship that it was now. Her hair was brown, and her eyes were likewise. "She's the captain," she said. "She knows what she's doing, and besides, being bounty hunters the government looks at us the same way it does with pirates." She shifted her hefty frame and narrowed her eyes. She might have been "fat", but she also had the reflexes of a massive cat, and was ten times as deadly. Her skin being brownish tan, instead of just tan like the rest of her sister's made her a perfect assassin as well. She fidgeted with her small blades in her hands and shifted once again. "It's almost time."

The girls pushed themselves back into the thick green bushes and shrubs, hiding between dark green trees, ignoring the insects, and held their collective breathes.

A few minutes more, three individuals began walking up the path, followed by a large white bison with a strange tail, bearing the same air bending markings of the youngest of the group, and a flying lemur. Ganasa, the youngest of the group watched the avatar closely and smiled.

"He's really cute," the eleven year old giggled. She pushed her glasses to her face, and lowered to the ground. "If no one wants to buy him, maybe I'll use him as a boyfriend."

"Air bending monks were not allowed to marry," Kailasa said, looking down at her sister with a smile.

Ganasa made a face and stuck out her tongue, "I never said anything about marriage," she said, tossing her gas balls up and down. "I just said I wouldn't mind having him as a boy friend." She pointed to him, "Besides, he has markings on his head, the kind of look like the ones of my forehead." She pointed to tiny red arrows right above her eyebrows, which rose and feel, finally connecting by her nose.

"I wouldn't mind having that lemur for dinner," Angirasa said, licking her lips. "You have recipes for those kinds of animals, don't you Ganasa?" her younger sister nodded her head. It had been a while since they had meat, and their bellies ached for it.

"I made a meal with lemurs three months ago, remember?" Her sister opened her mouth to speak, but was shushed by Kailasa.

Out in the opening, the group of three friends stopped in their tracks and glared at the new comer.

"Can we help you?" the girl in blue asked, Katara, her name was Katara. Ryasa smile grew hideously large and she began to walk around them.

"She's Fire Nation," the boy, Sokka snapped, pulling out his boomerang. He raised it to use against her, but yelped as an arrow slammed it from his hand, nailing it to a tree.

"Yes, you can help me," Ryasa laughed. She looked over to the shrubs and what not and the girls poured out, Vinata holding a nasty looking cross bow. "In fact you can help us all . . . by surrendering yourselves into our custody."

**_Well it seems short chapters all around are in supply this week with all of my stories, but I truly meant for this one to be this short. I just wanted to give you all a brief introduction of the bounty hunters. How did you like them? I have a drawing of Ryasa, but I'm not good with internet stuff so I can't post it in the web. If you'd like to see it, you can always click my name, and go to my email address. But I warn you, I use the net at a relative's house and unless I'm house sitting, I'm not on line a lot. My picture isn't that good either, I'm not very good at drawing, so if anyone would like to do a fan drawing of one, or all of the girls, go ahead. Anyway, chapter two will be longer, and with more action (though not extreme cus I'm not very good at it)._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ziggy's Corner: Okay, chapter two of this story. So far it is the only Avatar Fanfiction I have written that has gotten no response. I don't know if that's a bad thing, hence stop writing this story, Ziggy, or just that so far it wasn't that interesting. I'll try a second chapter, and see what comes of it. This chapter is going to be much longer, so there will be more meat for you to enjoy. And on that note, enjoy!**_

"I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure what you mean," the boy said with an odd smile.

"They're from the Fire Nation, what do you think they mean?" Sokka roared out. With a flash of movement he dashed for his boomerang, and yanked it from the tree, in time to dodge another arrow.

"I'll take that as you mean to hurt my friends," Aang said. "Look, we don't want to fight."

Ryasa sighed and lowered her head. "A pity, I was hoping for a challenge." She pulled out an impossibly long sword and wielded it at the boy. "Not many people know how to fight with this weapon in my home country if they're not royalty boy," she hissed through clenched smiling teeth. "And very few nobles would be able to handle this power either."

"That's nice," Aang said stepping back. The other Fire Nation girls were already picking fights with Katara, and Sokka, and were doing pretty well. "But if you could call of your friends, we'd really like to go now." He smiled at her with genuine brightness, and then leapt into the air as he felt the wind cut through the spot he was with reflexes only a god could possess. "You're pretty good at that," he gasped.

"That was nothing, I missed," she chuckled. With speed that not even a god possessed the girl launched herself to the air, and swung the sword, which seemed to arch out in a snake like fashion, twisting one way, and coiling another. "It is such a same that have no weapons of your own."

"I wouldn't go that far," Aang said, blowing on his bison whistle. The large white beast took to the air, and collapsed as the youngest of the girls shot him with a blow dart. The avatar looked at his friend and partner for a moment and then turned to the teenage girl. "Now I'm mad." His eyes began to glow white as a solar dwarf, and he scowled. "I warned you to leave my friends and I alone!"

He summoned his energy and sent a blast of air toward the Fire Nation bounty hunter, who dodged it, slashing out with her blade. How she was hovering there in the air, it seemed impossible. Could she had air bending powers, and even if she did, how was she staying up for so long, without getting tired!

Aang nose dived toward the small forest below, hoping to evade her, but a blast of fire streaming down at him proved that she was indeed some kind of bender. And the small girl his own age was down there, waiting for him, as was some woman who looked in her thirties. Aang pulled his knees into his chest and tumbled down until he had rolled passed the two of them, and recovered, his hanger folded up in his hand as he took a defensive position. "Three on one isn't very fair."

"It is if you're the avatar, and we're just normal Fire Nation citizens looking for an honest living," the twenty year old woman said with her own smile. She fingered her small blades and craned her head. "I normally use these to kill, but I'm not sure they'll have the same effect on you as normal people."

"Hey, I'm as mortal as they come, if you tickle me, I laugh, if you prick me, I bleed," Aang said with his own grin.

Ryasa landed behind him and giggled, "Let's find out," she hissed. With a flick of her wrist she launched her blade at him again, only this time both of the other bounty hunters were on him too. Aang used all the skill he had to dodge the on coming opponents, occasionally using the glider in an attempt to throw one of them off balance. He somersaulted, flipped through the trees, and narrowly avoided each and every blow, but his energy was running thin, and these bounty hunters didn't seem to be having that problem.

Katara and Sokka weren't having very good luck with their foes either. Angirasa had decided to match her fists and feet against Katara, while the poor boy dealt with Vinata's deadly talents with the cross bow. Already she had Sokka on the retreat, rushing through trees, trying to find good ground to take a stand.

And that left the water bender all alone with the martial arts expert. Flesh against a measly water whip. "All alone with no one to help," Angirasa laughed. She threw a punch and the girl dodged it, her hands reaching for the jar of water. A kick landed in her mid section and sent her spiraling down a hill, were her opponent front flipped in front of her. "It hurts doesn't it? Know that you can't do anything to protect him?"

"I can do enough," Katara growled. Blood trickled down her forehead and she frowned. There was something in the way she was looked, those eyes, constantly moving just around the corner, trying to focus on something.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" the bounty hunter cried with wild laughter. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"Pretty stupid," Katara said with her own smile. She nodded and shot to her feet throwing water from the small pool she had landed in, into the bounty hunter's face. Distracting her, Katara opened up her jug of water, and summoned forth a long line of water, forging it into a solid mass of a whip. "Should have looked behind you," the girl said.

The whip flashed at the hunter, and caught her off balance, striking her repeatedly until she was nearly on her back. Angirasa however wasn't prepared to give up just yet. She put her hands on the ground, and did a pinwheel movement, that caught the younger girl on her chin. The older teen straightened herself and rushed forward, like a waterfall dashing down on the rocks. She grasped Katara's wrist and threw it behind her back, tripping her left leg with her foot, so the two of them went down.

"I'd say that this fight is over, wouldn't you?" she asked with a sure grin.

Sokka rushed threw the trees, his ears listening to the wails of incoming thin wooden missiles, lined with metallic death, all headed his way. He had to get out of the woods, he had to find a clearing or something, and make a stand. At least in a clearing he would be able to find a direction to throw his boomerang to. While he was thickly sandwiched between trees he was nothing more than target practice.

The girl reminded him of his own sister's determination, and also her irritation factor as well, except that she was one year older than his sister, and not many people in the world could afford glasses. Which meant these bounty hunters were either very good at their jobs, or that the girl had stolen the pair from someone who could afford them. And if that was the case, she was still good at her job. Most of the wealthy people on the planet had body guards coming out of their armpits to defend them from thieves.

"Run, run little boy," she teased, her voice echoing through the forest. Sokka could feel his heart race up to his throat as he looked around, hoping to pin her down by her voice. "What's the problem? Can't seem to find one little, 'helpless' girl? Or are you afraid of being taken down by one?" She giggled again, and the forest sounded as if it was full of taunting fifteen year old bounty hunters.

"I learned a while back not to be embarrassed by being beat by a warrior who was female," he snapped, constantly back tracking and dodging arrows as they flew around his feet. "To be honest, yes, I'd feel very ashamed to be beaten by you." He turned and ran, blocking her giggles from his mind.

"Come on, be a man," she taunted. "The stone ages are gone, just admit that you've lost, and we can make this easy."

"You didn't let me finish," he said as he ran. "I'd be ashamed to lose to you, because it would sour the lessons the warrior had given me. To fall to someone who only fights in the shadows, instead of face to face is the most dishonorable defeat there is." He stopped running and spun around, with a taunting grin on his own face. "And it's the most dishonorable victory that there is."

"You're only saying that because you're scared," Vinata said, taking aim at his back as she watched him stand off in the distance. She scowled for a moment; perhaps he was playing with her as much as she was with him. She let fly the arrow, and grinned as it skinned some of his right arm and hand. He had never known she was there. Like a predatory eagle, she leapt through the trees with the slimmest amount of noise, and landed on a branch a few feet from where she had been.

"I'm saying that because you're no warrior," he said, turning to the place where she had been. He covered his hand with a piece of his clothing and stared intently on the empty spot.

"Sorry love, but I'm a hunter, not a fighter," she cooed darkly. She took another arrow and placed it in her bow, slowly bending the string back. She raised her head and stuck out her tongue, to feel the direction of the wind, and made the appropriate adjustments. She had enjoyed this, but now it was time to bring the hunt to an end. She released the arrow, and watched it fly to its mark, and then gasped as he spun around as it headed for him, and grabbed it on one hand, throwing it back at her just as fast as it had approached him.

There was little time for her to react, or to jump. Vinata shot her bow in front of her body, and screeched in horror as the arrow ripped it from her clutched fingers, sailing it ten feet down into the forest. Before she could analyze what had happened, a blue boomerang went sailing right into her legs, and the girl felt and heard a massive crack of bone, right before she tumbled backward, down to the ground. A gust of air caught her collapsing body, and shoved her hard against a tree, not hard enough to kill, but to seriously knock the wind out of her.

Sokka raced to the bounty hunter, glared at the weakened opponent and then turned to the source of the gust, Aang. He was short of breath, his clothes were torn everywhere, and blood stained a good number of his exposed flesh. "Where's Katara?" he wheezed.

"Aang, are you alright?" The water tribe boy headed over to his friend and began examining. By all rights and accounts the avatar should not have even been standing. "I saw three of them fight you right before I took off from that nut job, how did you get away?"

"Not easy," the boy gasped for air. "The one with the freaky sword is still up and around here. Her sister's are out, but I don't know for how long. Sokka, where is Katara?" Aang tried to raise one of his arms, but it stayed at his side, paralyzed by one of Ganasa's poisoned darts.

"I don't know, but we'll find her."

"We better hurry; sword girl was actually scowling when I disappeared. I don't think that's a good thing." The two of them raced off, calling for their friend, and hoping that they would not run into a heart wrenching scene.

Seething, she was actually seething! Ryasa's grin had vanished, for the moment anyway. As she looked into the pool of water she spied a face she had not seen in many years, one that was bent up, darkened, with violet eyes burning with hate. She had wanted a challenge, and she had gotten her money's worth.

It should have been so simple. The boy should not have been a match for her sisters and her. The leader of the bounty hunters had managed to knock the avatar off his feet and onto his back; his eyes were rolling up into his head. Kailasa had pinned the boy down by his shirt sleeves and pant sleeves, and Ganasa pumped him full of bio toxin liquid. So much of it that a wooly viper cat had collapsed and died only and hour after it entered its system one time. She shook her head, true they had gotten careless, had gotten carried away, but still there would have been someone who would have bought the body of the boy from them.

But as soon as they had all stepped away from the body, had taken their eyes off of it, he broke free of the blades, his arrow tattoos glowing with white light, as were his eyes, and with energy she hadn't realized even existed, the boy sent a blast of wind that would have decimated Fire Lord Ozai's palace into rubble. How they had survived, she had no idea, but somehow they had managed. Still only Ryasa had managed to stay conscious, and as the boy fled, her characteristic grin swung downward, and she was determined to finish him.

In searching for him, she found her sister Angirasa, who was weeping alone in the field, her hands holding her face so tight it was as if she was afraid that to let go of it would be to let it fall off. When Ryasa managed to pull the hands away, a roar of such inhuman ferocity erupted from her throat that she didn't even realize it had come from her.

The water bender had been subdued, but as what had happened a lot today, Angirasa had let her guard down, just as they all had. When that happened she had tried to use her water bending against Ryasa's sister, and Angirasa had countered with fire bending. The hot boiling steam splashed against her face, and scarred it.

A shadow passed over the young woman, and the angry bounty hunter looked up to see a woozy flying bison try to make its getaway, along with its human cargo. Ryasa scowled, her eyes darkened even more, and she used what energy she had to launch herself at the prey, getting slammed back to the earth by the avatar's wind power, and held there until they were far enough away that the sisters would be no threat. Or so they had thought.

Ryasa watched the bison become nothing more than a fluffy white cloud as it disappeared into the distance, and then pulled herself to her feet. With a little difficulty she helped Angirasa to hers, and looked off into the distance, that familiar grin reemerging on her face. Oh what glorious havoc she had planned for this boy, such delicious revenge. She wanted a challenge, a querry that would be worthy of her talents, and the full unbridled rage that filled her body. And now she had found it.

"Aang, I will chase you down to the corner of the earth if I have to. My sisters and I. We will hunt you down until there's no were left for you to fly, and then, dear avatar, when there is no where for you to go, I will be the one to extinguish your glorious light. True it may cost me my own, but oh what a battle it will be."

**_Okay, at the beginning as I started writing this I can see why the first chapter didn't get any reviews, but then I'm not very good at action and fight scenes. I kinda got excited as this chapter neared the end, and I'm a little more refreshed. Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter much more than the first, and look forward to the third. I'm probably not going to update this until I get at least five positive reviews, and even then if that's the case, it will probably be near Late November, early to mid December when the next update comes, unless I don't get reviews until passed these dates. Anyway I hope you all had fun._**


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